Another Last Goodbye
by LostFairy
Summary: Martha is woken up and goes to the consol room to investigate... and finds the Doctor talking to himself. But is he? Why does he keep takling about finding gaps in the universe, and who's the blonde woman on the screen? oneshot, 10rose


Inspired by a plot bunny that simply refused to go away. Hope you like it, and if you do, please review! XD

This is my first fic with Martha! I suppose I'm going to have to get used to them until Billie Piper gets her act together.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

Martha trudged through the corridors of the TARDIS, rubbing her eyes. She'd been fast asleep when suddenly everything had started shaking and she'd been thrown across the room, crashing onto the floor with enough force to wake the dead. The room had continued to shake as she stumbled to the door and down the corridors towards the control room in an attempt to find out what the hell was going on. Now the shaking had stopped and everything was back to normal, though she could hear the engines working slightly louder than usual.

As she got closer to the control room, she began to hear a voice. She guessed it was the Doctor's, but quite who he was talking to she didn't know. There was no one else on the TARDIS – unless they'd landed somewhere and he'd let someone in. His voice gradually became clearer as she got closer to the control room.

"…I found another gap in the universe, managed to project myself through… almost ripped reality apart with it, mind you." She heard him laugh lightly as she reached the door. Before she opened it, she decided to stand there for a few more minutes and just listen to what he was saying. "I know, I know, yes, I said it was impossible. Not the first time I've been wrong." She heard him laugh again, but she could hear there was little emotion behind it. "I can't get through properly. The gap's only just big enough for this. Sorry." What was he talking about? What gap? What confused her the most was that she couldn't hear another voice. Was he on the phone?

Taking her changes, she carefully pushed the door open. She poked her head in the room, and saw him standing by the consol, staring into space. He didn't seem to notice her come in. "How long has it been? Since I saw you last?" He didn't seem to be speaking to anyone, just… to himself, almost. She slowly walked into the room, careful not to make too much noise. "A year?" he laughed, "lucky you." She walked further up to him, but he still didn't notice her. "Five years, for me. Seems like so long ago now." She walked up closer to him, until she was standing next to him. He still didn't notice her.

"Yeah, five years isn't much compared to 900, is it?" he spoke as if he was talking directly to someone, but she was the only other person in the room. "Come on then, fill me in. What's been going on with you over the last year? How's the baby?" he smiled as he watched someone in front of him, even though there was no one there. He nodded as he listened, completely oblivious of her presence. "Susan," he said suddenly, looking upwards, "Good name, that. I like the name Susan." He looked away, as if thinking to himself, then looked back at the spot he'd been looking at before. Martha wondered briefly if he'd finally lost it and had gone completely mad.

She walked in front of him, but he still didn't notice her at all. "Ooh, not much really," he said, looking around, "same old life, travelling around." He ran his hand through his hair. "I'm travelling with someone else, she's called Martha…" suddenly he flung his hand out and pointed forward and she had to duck to avoid his hand, "and before you say anything _don't_ go thinking that she's replacing you, because she isn't." He lowered his arm, as a sadness came into his eyes. "No one could replace you," he said quietly. There was a pause, then he said: "That sounded really cheesy, didn't it?" he laughed softly, but quickly sobered up.

Then her gaze flicked to the screen on the consol, on which was a picture of someone. She walked up closer to it and saw that the picture was moving, like a recording. It showed a garden in the background, with a woman in the centre. She was blonde and, Martha had to admit, rather pretty. She looked sad yet happy at the same time. Martha watched as she said something, but she couldn't hear what. Then as she stopped, the Doctor spoke. "Um… almost a month now, I think," he said, scratching the back of his neck, "Yeah, she's been with me about a month," the woman spoke again, and Martha looked back at the Doctor, who was watching the same place he had before. "Yeah," he said quietly, "five years…" he paused, then a frown came across his face, as the woman said something again. "How could I travel with someone so soon after losing you?" Martha suddenly felt so sorry for him as he spoke with so much passion.

The woman gave a sad smile, as tears began to form in her eyes. There was a pause, and Martha could see the Doctor and this woman were clearly talking to each other, somehow. "Do you still…?" the Doctor muttered, not being able to complete the sentence. The woman nodded, as she had to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I told you to forget me and move on." Martha stared at the Doctor in surprise. How could anyone just forget him and move on? After everything he'd done for her, if he'd shown this woman anything like what he'd shown her, there was no way she'd be able to forget him.

She looked back at the screen, as the woman said something. Martha wasn't exactly brilliant at lip reading, but she managed to make out one word. 'Hypocrite'. She smiled herself as the Doctor laughed. "I guess so, yeah," he said quietly. Martha watched as the woman said something, and looked back to see the Doctor give a small nod. "I suppose I should hurry up and say it, before I run out of time again, eh?" the Doctor muttered, and the woman on screen smiled sadly. Martha saw a tear run down the woman's face, as they both watched the Doctor expectantly. "Rose Tyler…" then suddenly everything made sense to Martha. She'd heard the Doctor say things about Rose, but she knew nothing about her other than she travelled with the Doctor before, and she'd clearly meant a lot to him. Martha had always just assumed she'd died, but clearly not…

"I love you." Martha froze as those words escaped his mouth. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard – he loved her. She could never imagine the Doctor being in love, he'd never really seemed the type, and she'd always thought of him and Rose as just friends. Clearly not…

She looked back at the screen as the image flicked and fuzzed, and the last thing she saw was Rose give a warm smile as the image disappeared completely. She looked back up at the Doctor, who stared into the distance numbly. Suddenly she wondered – would he be able to see her now? Would he be angry at her for watching that? She didn't know what to do, and she just stood stock still as he looked to the ground, once again running his hand through his hair. He turned towards the consol, towards her, and looked up.

Suddenly he screamed in surprise at seeing her there, and she also screamed in surprise at his scream. They both stumbled back. The Doctor quickly looked around in confusion, then stared at her.

"What are you doing there?!" he gasped.

"I… I came in to see what happened…" she stuttered.

"How long were you there?" he asked, but she couldn't seem to answer.

"Since… you said… about gaps in the universe…" she muttered. Then she couldn't stop the torrent of questions spilling out of her moth. "What happened? Who was that? Was that Rose? How were you talking to her? If she's alive why isn't she with you? Why couldn't you see me? What-"

"Calm down!" the Doctor ordered. She bit her lip. "Yes, that was Rose," he said quietly, but didn't seem to want to say any more. He walked up to the consol and fiddled with the controls. Martha could tell he didn't want to talk about it, but she wasn't going to let this drop. Not again.

"What happened to her?" Martha asked. Last time she'd asked that he'd simply said that she was gone, and she hadn't pushed it. But now she had to know.

"She's gone," the Doctor muttered, repeating his previous words.

"I know that," Martha said, walking towards him, "but where?" he paused, staring into space.

"She trapped," he said sadly, "in a parallel universe. And I can never get back to her," a moment passed, as neither said anything. "Still," he said suddenly, more cheerfully, "at least she's alive," he began to walk around the consol, "she's out there, living her own life. Like she should be. Could have been worse," his gaze went back down to the consol. Martha watched him sadly as he concentrated on the controls.

"You said you love her," she whispered. The Doctor didn't answer. He didn't need to. "I'm sorry," she whispered sincerely. He didn't say anything, he just stared straight ahead, and gave a small nod. Finally he looked up at her, with a smile.

"Come on you, back to bed," he said, "we've got a busy day tomorrow," he started adjusting the controls again, but Martha could see he was still thinking about Rose.

"You'll find a way back to her," she said. He gave a hollow laugh.

"It's impossible," he murmured.

"Nothing's impossible." He looked up at her in surprise. She gave him a smile, then headed out of the room. He watched as she went through the door, and he was left on his on. Then finally a genuine smile came to his face.

She was right. He would find a way back to her. Someday.


End file.
